MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN OF ACADEMICS

IN THIS ISSUE:

Montessori Open House

IJ Parent Teacher Meet

IJ Coffee with Mothers & SLC

IJ Annual Day

IJ Graduation Day

IJ Workshop by Mr. Gavin Cormack

IJ Field Trips

IIS PTM

IIS SLC

IIS Theme of the Month

IIS Model United Nations

IIS Teachers PDP – MIE Program

Iqra Souq

IIS IHP Final Ceremony

Iqrathon - Annual Sports Meet

As Salaam Alaikum, warm greetings to one and all!

I begin my message with a quote by Martin Luther King, Jr. - ‘The function

of education is to teach one to think intensively and critically. Intelligence,

coupled with character is the true goal of education.’

It has been yet another fantastic year enriched with lots of fun-filled

learning. Remembering the years’ experiences is indeed the most pleasant

feeling. There is a new beginning, a new year awaiting the learners on its

threshold. It is quite evident that as time goes by, old bonds become

stronger and new ones follow.

With a vision to take our school to a whole new level and make our

students truly ‘global citizens’, we have designed a trend to weave-in

international dimensions into lessons and are working towards getting

recognition from the British Council for the International School Award.

The school is well-equipped with interactive learning aids like Math

Buddy, through which the child learns the most difficult Mathematical

concepts with the use of instruments. These are used across the grades

from pre-primary to the secondary level.

Learning is a never-ending process at Iqra, which is accompanied with a

wide range of activities, one of them being ‘Theme of the month’, wherein

our learners get an opportunity to read and research well about the

topics, which in turn are presented by Iqranians.

Speaking about our growth, our school has crossed a milestone with the

very first achievement test given by the boys and girls of Grade 8 at the

end of May. I wish the very best to them as we await the results.

I conclude my message by wishing you all a happy and a healthy year

ahead!

- Ash’ha Khairi Ahmed

MONTESSORI OPEN HOUSE

Iqra Juniors Montessori hosted an 'Open House'

on Saturday, 8th December 2018 for parents of

the entire school. Parents toured the premises

and were able to get a glimpse into Montessori

classrooms. The event served as the perfect

platform for parents to connect with our

Montessori community and better understand

the Montessori program through a Q&A session

with our certified Montessori Educators. It was

refreshing to see our little Iqranians taking pride

& ownership of their space as they guided their

parents through a few special lessons.

IJ PARENT TEACHER MEET

The Final Parent-Teacher Meet of Iqra Juniors

was held on Saturday, 23rd March 2019. This

meeting provided an important opportunity for

the interaction of our teachers with the parent

community. Parents & Teachers each had a

perspective to share & worked together in

finding ways to provide appropriate &

necessary support for children. Teachers

discussed the child's strengths, weaknesses,

areas of improvement and what parents could

do at home to support classroom practices. This

Parent-Teacher Meet was a chance to support

children’s educational experience in one of the

most direct & meaningful ways available,

Alhamdulillah!

IJ COFFEE WITH MOTHERS & SLC

The Student led conference (SLC) and Coffee

with mothers were organized at Iqra Junior on

12th January 2019. It was indeed a wonderful

event where parents had a heart-to-heart

discussion with Class Teachers and the

Supervisor. Parents were amazed to see their

children prosper in all aspects and shared their

joy to witness their children being capable of

doing things beyond their imagination at such a

young age. The children on the other hand were

extremely excited about the SLC – they were all

geared up, ready with their work, waiting in

their classrooms for their mothers. MashaAllah!

The children explained their work beautifully &

enthusiastically to their mothers and were

beaming with pride and contentment while

doing the same.

IJ ANNUAL DAY

Iqra Junior celebrated its much awaited Annual Day on January 26th 2019 at MLR Convention Centre. A grand stage was set up for the cultural event of Junior Iqranians. It was a colorful and busy day which commenced with a beautiful Qirat recitation followed by the introduction of the Chief Guest. The Annual Day celebrations began with cultural programs been presented by children of kindergarten and Montessori & was a well organized show with performances of Nasheeds, funny poems, drama and ISA activity. Prizes were given away to the winners of the Talent Week competitions of academics and QIAS held during the year. Iqra Parent Awards were awarded to parents under different categories which they were overwhelmed to receive. Sister Noor Ayesha, Director – Iqra addressed the gathering with a short history of the school and read out the annual report. Finally, a vote of thanks was delivered by Sister Haleema Sadia.

IJ GRADUATION DAY

‘Time flies but memories last forever’ – nothing

could better sum up the bittersweet feelings we

had during Iqra Juniors Graduation Day! To bid

adieu to our little ones who embarked on this

journey with us 3 years ago, Iqra Juniors

celebrated its 5th Annual Graduation Ceremony

on Saturday, 2nd March 2019 at the IIS premises.

It was a wonderful event filled with smiling

faces, swaying sashes & waving graduation caps

that marked the entry of our ‘graduates’ into

Grade 1. Graduation certificates & chocolates

were distributed by Sister Ruqiya Tasleem,

Montessori Coordinator followed by which

graduating children shared their beautiful

journey with Iqra Junior & eagerness to start a

new one with IIS.

IJ WORKSHOP BY MR. GAVIN CORMACK It was a splendid 3 days at Iqra International School with Mr. Gavin Cormack, Principal – Farmhouse Montessori School, Sydney gracing the premises with his presence. Mr. Cormack is one of Australia's leading Global Education Innovators and has impacted the lives of thousands of children and teachers across the globe as an educationist and an author as well. Mr. Cormack conducted a 3-day workshop (4th -6th January 2019) for the teachers on ‘Montessori Methods of Teaching’ which was an enlightening & highly edifying experience. It was a mutually appreciative session with Mr. Cormack expressing his delight at the passion & enthusiasm of the educators and parents at Iqra which ended with a questionnaire session.

IJ FIELD TRIP A field trip to Cubbon Park & Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium was organized in the month of February for the students of Iqra Juniors Montessori & Iqra Juniors EYFS respectively. The children were extremely excited to be at the planetarium and learnt about the Planets & questions by the guide which they answered with great enthusiasm. While the trip to the planetarium was an enlightening educational experience for the kids, the one to Cubbon Park was a wonderful opportunity for children to appreciate nature in its pure & untainted form. The children engaged in various activities at the park like leaf-hunting, hill-climbing, running races, passing the ball etc.

IIS PARENT TEACHER MEET SLC

The final event for the year, the Parent-Teacher

Meet for Iqra International School was

conducted on 30th March 2019 in the school

premises. Report cards of the students had

already been emailed to the parents prior to

the PTM. The PTM served as an excellent

opportunity for the parents to have a one-on-

one interaction with the teachers and discuss

any issues that they feel relevant & important.

Teachers kept the parents informed about their

child’s progress in school and effectively

responded to any queries that parents may

have had regarding their child/school in

general.

THEME OF THE MONTH – INDIAN EMPIRE

History inexorably speaks of the generations of

people that have seen & witnessed the rule of

Empires. Thus, to educate our children about

this history, our Theme of the month was

“Empires and Dynasties” which was further

bifurcated into the Roman, Indian, Turk &

Mongol and the Rashidun Caliphates. The

students did a fantastic job in making us relive

the rich history of these fascinating eras. They

effortlessly took us through the reign,

contributions, achievements and eventually the

fall of all these mammoth empires. While the

school was adorned with posters and pictures

of the Monuments, Kings & their culture

throughout the course of the month, our little

Iqranians dressed up like ancient Kings and

Queens and were indeed a sight to behold!=

IIS MOCK UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE

IMUN (Iqra Mock United Nations Conference)

was conducted in the school premises on 15th

February 2019. It served as the perfect platform

for the participants to learn about diplomacy

and international relations. It was evident that a

lot of research had gone into the overall

preparation. The students were able to

understand the importance of team-work which

in turn helped them in improving their

speaking, debating and writing skills. Overall,

IMUN proved to be a successful simulation

activity which paved way for the participants to

get acquainted with global issues, develop their

negotiation & public-speaking skills while

simultaneously honing critical thinking,

teamwork, and leadership abilities in student s.

TEACHERS PDP

As a part of the Teachers PDP Program, a

session on MIE Expert Program (MIE) was

organized for the teachers on 9th March 2018.

The Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) Expert

program is a premier program created by

Microsoft to recognize global educator

visionaries, designed for the integration of

technology in the classroom. During the session,

teachers are provided with an overview of a

variety of Microsoft resources. Having officially

registered, our teachers are now a part of the

MIE community and have discovered great

resources. Through MIE, our teachers have

received exposure to various Microsoft

technologies and resources that support

student-centered learning based on authentic

problems, effective use of technology in

teaching & learning while aligning to 21st

Century Skills and Common Core Standards.

.

IQRA SOUQ

The most awaited annual event of the year ‘Iqra Souq’ was a magnificent spectacle to behold! It was a

fun-filled, colorful extravaganza celebrating the theme of ‘Diversity in Culture’. Different stalls were

put up keeping with the theme and students had a wonderful time exhibiting handmade craft &

selling homemade food. The Souq was open to the student, teacher & parent community and served

as the perfect opportunity for everyone to come together to celebrate unity in diversity while

plunging themselves in fun activities like painting, crafts and games. It was indeed a moment of pride

for us to watch our Iqranians learn & display skills of business, presentation and communication.

INTENSIVE HIFDH PROGRAM CEREMONY

The Annual IHP ceremony commemorated the

end of the ‘Intensive Hifdh Program’ for the

Academic Year 2018-19 with Mr. Mohammad

Nazeer Ahmed, Chairman - Iqra International

School presiding as the Chief Guest. The event

which had the Hifdh students and their parents

in attendance was indeed a grand affair. The

program commenced with the presentation of

the detailed annual report on the achievements

of the IHP students. This was followed by the

appreciation of students for Juzz completion

with each child receiving a Certificate of

Completion for every Juzz that was memorized

at the hands of their parents. An astounding

172 Juzz were completed by our Iqranians this

Academic Year! Next in line was the prize

distribution for the Taraweeh competition

followed by the most awaited part of the day –

the mesmerizing recitation of the holy Quran by

2 of our venerated huffadh - Akheel Ahmed and

Mohammad Umar. Both students were honored

for completing the memorization of the Book of

Allah followed by their parents sharing their

experiences & tips with parents of budding

huffadhs.

IIS ANNUAL SPORTS MEET - IQRATHON

Iqrathon – The much awaited Annual Sports

Meet was held on 22nd December 2018 at our

very own Iqra Games Village. Mountaineer

Vasumathi Srinivasan and Colonel Govind

Srinivasan (Retd) presided as the Chief Guests

for the event. Iqrathon commenced with the

beautiful recitation of the holy Quran followed

by a welcome-walk by students of IJ and was a

colorful, well-coordinated display of

sportsmanship & impeccable synchronization.

Next in line was the March Past of IIS students

with the four houses Jibreel, Mikaeel, Israfeel

and Ridhwan marching behind their respective

captains lead by the school captain, vice-

captain, sports captain, secretary and the

treasurer. The march was followed by fun

games and the school-drill which was a

spectacular display of the students’

performance making use of vibrant house-

colored props. Finally, the students of the

Karate Club gave the audience a glimpse into

the courage, strength and discipline that goes

into the renowned Martial Art. The Sports Meet

ended on a high note with the crowd cheering

on as students competed in a series of races.